A dangerous game
by isle-of-fervor
Summary: Set after Kol's death. Klaus has trapped everyone in the Mikaelson his house to pay for his brother's life. His form of revenge is in his own game of Truth or Dare...only his stakes are between life and death. Dark!Klaus. Klaroline, among others.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Set after 4x12-A view to kill. The cure does not exist in this fic. Elena and Jeremy have just killed Kol. Tyler fled town immediately after this. Bonnie never contained Klaus in the living room, and so instead Klaus has trapped everyone in the Mikaelson mansion to get the revenge he thinks he deserves.**

**I've planned this as a short ficlet-5, or 6, chapters. But I'm not 100% certain on it at the moment. Just posting this prologue-kind-of-thing, to see if people like the story, before deciding to keep writing/editing the rest.**

** For those who are reading _In Chains_, sorry for the spontaneous hiatus (blame school and myself), the next chapter is currently being written and should be posted up soon.**

** Thank you :)**

* * *

They were all trapped. Sitting ducks, in a neat little row in the middle of the grand room.

The beast in front of them was barely recognisable, thinly veiled rage, wrapped in a package of sinewy muscle and narrowed eyes. Klaus paced in front of them, his very bones shuddering with the anger inside him. Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Damon, Stefan, Jeremy and Rebekah were all seated on a wide leather couch, their faces an identical mask of dread.

"Do something, witch." Damon ordered Bonnie under his breath, his signature 'I-couldn't-care-less' gone for once.

"I _can't_." Bonnie whispered back, her tone ravaged. "There's a block here." Despite Bonnie trying to talk quietly, Klaus heard her anyway, of course, and whirled to face the witch.

"You're bright, aren't you? A _block_, yes," He snarled. "You all seem to forget how _powerful _I am, don't you? How many _powerful_ friends I have? You think that you can just _do _whatever you wish and come out unscathed?" As he spoke, his volume got louder and louder. The tips of his fangs began to elongate as he yelled, his blue eyes lightening to gold. "Have you _forgotten _who I _AM_?"

"Niklaus!" Rebekah yelled a protest.

"Beloved sister," Klaus hissed, turning to face her. "You, wanting nothing more to be a human and to be _loved_. Isn't that just adorable? So desperate for affection that you'll side with these pathetic creatures over your own _blood_."

"Blood isn't always the most important thing, Nik." Rebekah murmured quietly. "It may be thicker than blood, but it's thin just the same."

"Is that how you see it, sister?" Klaus anger seemed to dissolve as quickly as it flared. His face smoothed to tranquillity, his voice to satin. A thin, calculating smile spread over his face.

"I'm sure your wondering-what are we doing here? Why is there a block? What has mean, evil Klaus got planned? Well…we're going to play a game." He announced to the room, spreading his arms wide.

"What game?" Rebekah asked cautiously. "We don't want to play any of your-"

"Quiet, Bekah." Klaus snapped. "You'll like this game. _Very _teenage girl. Elena, Caroline, Bonnie, no doubt you played it together at your little human slumber parties. My version will be a little different, though."

"What game?" This time it was Caroline who asked, finally finding her voice for the first time that night. Klaus' smile stretched out further.

"Truth or dare." The title of the game hung in the air, a dangerous, tantalising threat. Everyone seemed to hold their breath.

"The rules of the game is simple." Klaus began to slowly pace around the room. "You tell someone 'truth' or 'dare'. They do it. Then _they_ tell the next person. Simple. Everyone gets to refuse a truth or dare three times, and if they do it any more, they lose."

"And what happens to the losers?" Rebekah asked warily.

"I bite them." Klaus grinned, his fangs sliding out. "And, consequently I guess, they die."

"Klaus." The word was a chorused plea as everyone jumped to their feet.

"_Sit down_!" Klaus barked, waiting until everyone complied. "You haven't let me finish. The winner of the game will receive enough of my blood to heal all the losers." There was a collective sigh of relief. Maybe they wouldn't die.

Klaus continued, "If _I_ win, however, then none of my blood will have to shed at all, will it?"

"So what are we meant to do then?" Damon asked.

Klaus smiled brilliantly at him, his fangs still on display. "It's simple enough. Make sure that I don't win, Salvatore."


	2. A dangerous game

**Thank you all so much for all the positive feedback! It made me decide to definitely keep going with this story :) However, warning, the muse for this story is proving fickle, and therefore my writing and updating may be fairly sporadic. I'll try my best to keep it fairly regular, though.**

**I do not have a beta for this story yet, so excuse any mistakes, and if anyone is interested in beta-ing, let me know! :) **

**R&amp;R**

* * *

_You stand before me, n__ow we stare eye to eye_

_Before another second clicks away, one of us will die_

_You reach for your metal as I reach for mine_

_The sound of bullets flying through the air is followed by a cry_

_What will we do, what will we say when it's the end of this game that we play_

_\- 3 doors down, A Dangerous Game_

* * *

"I'll start off with you, Damon." Klaus decided. "And we'll start off easy, because I'm in a good mood. It's a dare you've _already_ completed many, many times in your short, sad existence."

"Spit it out." Damon ordered briskly, though his shifting feet gave away his nerves.

"Carly." Klaus called aloud, out towards the hall door behind him. Moments later, a dopey-looking, pretty young girl walked into the room, her eyes blank and staring.

"Damon," Klaus wrapped an arm around the girl's waist. "I dare you to drain this girl." Caroline, Stefan and Elena were all on their feet at once, protesting loudly.

"Klaus, _stop_." Caroline pleaded, hoping that Klaus would give into her like he had so often in the past. When he turned to her though, his eyes were mean and taunting.

"Stop?" He repeated. "Love, I haven't even started yet."

"We're _not_ playing this game, Klaus." Stefan said, taking a step towards him threatingly.

"_Sit down, Ripper_." Klaus growled, snapping his head back to look at Stefan. "Unless _you _want to take over Damon's dare? How long does it take you to wean yourself back to your pitiful animal diet after tasting human blood," Klaus grabbed the girl's wrist and bit into it, his grin staining red. "fresh out of the vein?"

Stefan shifted backwards. He swallowed them down immediately, but no one missed the purple veins that flashed quickly across Stefan's face.

"Enough talking." Damon, who had been studying Stefan, flashed forward suddenly, grabbing the girl and holding her taunt against him.

"_Damon, no!_" Elena screamed, but it was too late. Carly crumpled to a lifeless heap at Damon's feet. Damon wiped his mouth and stared defiantly at Klaus.

"I'm finished your fucking dare." Damon said.

"Well done." Klaus looked delighted as he settled himself in a large armchair, his hands clasped over his chest. "It's your turn then, Salvatore."

"I dare you to let us out."

"Oh, dull." Klaus snorted, waving the notion away. "Obviously, a dare trying to get out of the game is not permitted."

"You never said anything about-"

"I'm saying it now." Klaus interrupted. "Would you like to argue?"

Even Damon knew better not to argue. He looked instead at Elena, who could barely meet his eye.

"I did it for Stefan." Damon whispered to her desperately, trying to grab her shoulder. "You know I had too." Elena wriggled out of his grasp and turned away, refusing to speak to him. Caroline guessed that she didn't feel like hashing out any of her feelings here, with Klaus watching eagerly.

"Rebekah," Damon muttered finally, collapsing back into his seat, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "I dare you to take _all _your fucking alcohol and bring it here." He shot a glare at Klaus. "Klaus doesn't get any."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "I have my own, Damon."

Rebekah was back within seconds, basically throwing the expensive spirits and lacquer at Damon's head. Caroline could see from the gleam in her eyes that she was excited to have her turn at daring.

"Klaus," Rebekah said triumphantly, standing above her brother. "I dare you to stab herself in the heart." She beamed, looking ecstatic at being able to inflict pain in her brother.

Klaus rolled his eyes, though his lips twitched into a smirk. Caroline couldn't be sure, but he looked almost…_amused_. Insane. Klaus would be the only person that could think being _stabbed _in the _heart _was something to laugh about it. Nevertheless, she hoped that that _was_ the case. Klaus' good nature would be the only thing that could save them from this damned game.

"Your creativity continues to excite me, Bekah," He said drily. "I suppose this dare is payback for my comments earlier?"

"No, it's payback for me being _stuck _here." Rebekah corrected, eagerly thrusting forward a fire poker, which she seemed to have pulled from nowhere. Without hesitating, Klaus pushed it into his chest, barely wincing as he did. Caroline couldn't help the short gasp that escaped her. Klaus turned immediately and caught her eye, maintaining her gaze as he slowly pulled the poker out from his heart. Caroline struggled to hide her alarmed face.

"Did that shock you, love?" He asked, his voice once again silky and streaked with taunting. Caroline felt a cold chill run up the back of her neck as his eyes remained fixed on her, and he smiled, predatorily.

"You forget what I am sometimes, is that it?" Klaus asked. "You forget this when you come along and tease me, when you act as the pretty little blonde distraction while your friends plot to _kill _me."

"Leave me alone, Klaus." Caroline ordered, cursing inwardly as her voice shook. "I'm not going to let you intimidate me."

"You are a stunning piece, love." Klaus looked amused at her response. "I don't have to intimidate you, though. I _could _just dare you to put this through _your _heart." Klaus told her idly, twirling the poker between his fingers.

"It wouldn't kill me, either." _It would hurt a heck of a lot more, though._

"A wooden stake would." The room fell completely silent at his threat. Caroline could feel Elena caught in motion, afraid to make any sudden movements in case Klaus was shocked into carrying out his words. She could feel Stefan's eyes boring into her, looking to see her reaction. She could hear Rebekah's shallow breathing. Rebekah knew better than anyone not to take Klaus' threats lightly.

Caroline ignored them all. She couldn't break Klaus' gaze. He always surprised her with his rapidly changing emotions when they talked, but she usually had _some_ inkling at to what he was thinking. The more time she spent with him, the more she recognised his tells; how he would slightly pucker his bottom laugh when unsure of whether to laugh at her, how he would shift his eyes slightly to he left when he threatened her, revealing that he didn't actually mean it.

But not now. Caroline couldn't read him at all. His face was impassive, his eyes blank but for a small, mean sparkle, watching her, waiting for her reaction. Klaus wanted her to be scared. He wanted them _all _to be scared – wasn't that why they were in this room, playing his sick, perverted game?

Caroline was deathly afraid of Klaus right now, but not enough to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Ever since turning into a vampire, she hated situations that returned her to her old, weak human mind state. She hated feeling defenceless or beaten. She _wasn't _going to.

When Caroline finally spoke, she was pleased at how strong her voice was "You wouldn't do that." Caroline said assuredly.

"And why not, love?" Klaus asked. "How _important _do you think you are to me? You? You're nothing much more than a-"

Caroline interrupted him. All Klaus had now was mean words. He was just trying to torment her, to belittle her again. He was nothing but a giant bully, when you came down to the root of it. And like all bullies, Klaus was meanest around other people. Caroline had talked to him alone, seen glimpses of long ago humanity when he had smiled at her, but there was none of that left now. Klaus needed himself to be seen as _ruthless,_ in order to stay in control of his captives. Caroline already _knew _he was ruthless, knew he wasn't above petty killings…yet she also knew he had had cause to kill her before, and never had. Caroline was as bold as she was afraid, a dangerous mix to possess in this game. The game. That's what this whole thing was, wasn't it? A game of wills, a game of cat and mouse with Klaus, a game to see who would topple first.

"Because then I wouldn't be able to play your game." Caroline answered finally, eyeing him daringly. She had figured out Klaus better then he wanted her too, she was sure of that.

Klaus laughed, breaking the frigid silence around them. "Ah, you _do _know me well, don't you? Are you _sure_ you don't like me just a little?"

"I hate you." Caroline spat. They continued to stare at each other, both unwilling to break first. Caroline wanted to show Klaus she wasn't afraid. Klaus wanted to show Caroline the reasons that she should be.

"Well, hate is fickle. Come sit here, love, with me," Klaus patted his lap encouragingly, still refusing to break eye contact. "I dare you."

Caroline glared at him. "You're disgusting."

"Do you refuse my dare?" Klaus raised a solitary eyebrow.

Witheringly, Caroline stood up and walked over, gingerly lowering herself onto his legs, finally breaking his gaze so that she didn't have to look at him anymore, and see his stupid smug face. She sat as far away as she could, perched lightly on the very bone of his knee.

"Aren't we comfy now?" Klaus smiled. "Your turn, Caroline."

"I dare you to stab yourself again, and leave it in." Caroline spat, her words venomous. _Time for Klaus to start paying for this whole fucked up situation_. She was prepared to be as ruthless as he was.

She felt a hand close around the back of her collar and she was pulled suddenly backwards into Klaus' solid chest.

"Klaus!" Caroline heard Elena cry out in protest as Caroline was yanked backwards. Before she could move away, the poker landed in front of her, driving into Klaus' leg where, mere seconds ago, Caroline had been sitting.

"You'll have to be more specific with your dares, love." His rough, scratchy whisper in her ear, his hand moving from her shirt collar to the top of her spine, stroking just beneath her hairline. Caroline squirmed. She wanted to move away from him, but was now trapped by the poker, stopping her from moving forward. She had been pushed backwards in a position where she couldn't balance; she had to lean against Klaus' chest like some sort of forlorn, dependant damsel. The irony didn't escape her.

"Your turn, Klaus." Caroline whispered, shutting her eyes. Just moments ago, she had felt confident at beating Klaus at his own game. Yet now, it was becoming obvious that no one _but _Klaus would ever win. He was too smart, too strong, and too brutal.

Caroline just wanted this game to _end_.

* * *

There were six bodies in a heap in the middle of the room. Six young, innocent girls, with families and friends and _lives_. All of that, stripped away in seconds, just because of some twisted hybrid's _never ending _game. He had made Damon drink two more, and then made Rebekah drink two, and then, finally, Stefan.

Stefan. He was teetering on his last life now. He had refused Klaus' dare to drink blood twice, before finally having to give in. He sat on the corner of the couch now, shaking, refusing to meet anyone's eye. Caroline had sat with him after as long as she could, stroking his back and hair, trying to look into his stony eyes, reassuring him it wasn't _his _fault, until Klaus had called her back and she had had to go and perch on his lap again, like some twisted little lap dog.

She _hated _that dare. She hated having to watch Damon drain an innocent, and Elena stake herself in the flesh of her arm, and Rebekah tally up how many times she had ever been dumped, and Bonnie use her own magic to harm herself, all at the pleasure of Klaus, while she sat atop his lap like a mafia wife watching her boss husband dish out punishments to those who owed him a debt. The game _disgusted _her. It made her sick. Physically. She had felt bile rising in her throat constantly. Elena and Bonnie both had to be excused to throw up in the bathroom. They had all started off trying to beat Klaus, make him forfeit his lives, throwing dare after dare at him. They bounced off him easily, he could withstand any pain, and lie his way through any pressing question, with the threat of his bite making everyone too scared to argue with him. And whenever Klaus was dared harshly, he dished them out even worse. Sitting on his lap like his pet hadn't made her exempt from Klaus' cruelty. Caroline had refused to cry when he had made her call Tyler, when he had fed her lines down the phone.

"I hate you. I never loved you. I stayed because I pitied you." She looked straight at Klaus as she said the words down the phone, willing them at him. He only smiled.

Caroline refused to react when he dared her to reveal everyone she had slept with, everyone she had kissed who had never spoken to again. She had wanted to lie, but Klaus threatened to drain her of her vervain and compel if he suspected even a word of deceit. Elena, despite everything, still seemed to pity her as she had confessed to everyone just how much of a _slut _she really was.

Fortunately, depending on how you looked on the nothing but unfortunate situation, Klaus didn't seem to want to hurt Caroline physically, instead just mentally. He made her relive everything awful in her life, from being suffocated, to being tortured at the hands of her own father, to killing Bonnie's crush when she had first turned. He made her tell the room every single time she had ever been rejected. She had winced only when talking about how Stefan had said "it's never going to happen", at the pitiful and slightly amused (Damon) expressions on everyone's face. When Klaus found out about Damon's and her past, her made her tell everyone about that _too_, about how she had been just used as a blonde blood bag and blow up doll, about all the things Damon had said to her. Damon, for his part, didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. He didn't seem to care anymore, ever since Elena had stopped talking to him.

It was three A.M. until it became Caroline's turn again, a soft dare by Bonnie to pull a 'flip the bird' at someone. Around midnight, they had retracted their first tactic to try and hurt Klaus, when that had turned out completely useless, and instead the group had spent the last few hours avoiding Klaus completely, all daring each other fruitless, simple 'dares', in a strategy that avoided them from pain, but also got them nowhere, making no one closer to winning.

Caroline had had enough. She felt as if she was barely herself, her dignity and privacy long ago diminished, her spirit completely removed from the situation she was in. Stefan still refused to look at anyone. Damon seemed to be permanently in his vampire face, watching the others with beady eyes and bad intentions. Caroline wondered briefly about how close he was to turning off his humanity. That would be the last thing they all needed. Elena and Rebekah both looked wrecked, and desolate. They sat silent and completely still, waiting dejectedly for whatever else was going to be thrown their way. And Bonnie, still just a human, was barely clinging to consciousness, her eyes fluttering shut every other second. They were useless like this. They weren't going to win, Caroline realised. Especially not like this. Everyone needed to rest, to regain their strength in order to face Klaus.

"I dare you to let us _sleep_." Caroline had said, directing the first dare at Klaus for over three hours. Klaus, of course, looked as perfect as he always did.

Klaus grinned and agreed, surprising Caroline. "Of course, love. Fresh minds in the morning, and what not. Everyone, feel free to find yourself a guest room and rest yourself up. You all have a _big _day tomorrow."

Hardly believing it, but not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, the others peeled off the couch, practically salivating at the chance of a couple of hours rest from Klaus and his endless game. Caroline leapt off of Klaus' lap, already deciding to find a room to share with Bonnie and Elena. She wanted nothing more than the comfort of her best friends after this ordeal. And she would visit Stefan early tomorrow morning too, she decided. Try and talk to him so that he could see it wasn't his fault at all, that it had been purely-

"Except for you, Caroline, love." Caroline, already halfway up the stairs, turned around slowly. With a swelling feeling of dread, she could guess Klaus' words before they even left his lips.

"I dare you to share my bed tonight." Klaus had a crocodile smile on his face. Caroline yearned to do nothing else but wipe it off.

For their part, Elena and Bonnie were immediately on her defence.

"No way." Elena protested, moving to stand protectively in front of Caroline.

"No _way_, Klaus." Bonnie seconded, sounding angry even as her body sagged with exhaustion.

"Caroline does have the choice to refuse it." Klaus allowed. "Do you want to, love?"

Caroline sighed. If she refused it, she wouldn't put it past Klaus to take back his former offer, and make everyone continue without sleep. And besides that, she would be down a life.

Caroline tried to throw a comforting smile to her two friends, though she doubted it looked very believable.

"No, Klaus," She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, as she moved back towards him. "I _want _to sleep with you." Klaus smirked, and offered her his arm. Caroline saw Bonnie and Elena watching her, their faces ominous as she was led down the hall, past the kitchen, and into Klaus' room. It was magnificent, of course. Caroline had expected it to be magnificent and yet, she _still _wasn't prepared. The room was easily over half the size of her entire house. It was sophisticatedly decorated, with white walls, polished wooden floors, and nothing but wall-sized windows on the far wall. There were two doors, presumably to giant wardrobes and bathrooms. On the right was a giant flat screen TV, with a home entertainment system similar to a cinema. On the right was a giant oak desk, dusted with sketching's of Klaus'. Normally, Caroline would be curious enough to look at them, but that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

Right in the middle of the room, giant and massive and probably the size of Caroline's entire _bedroom_…was Klaus' bed. It was imposing and frightening right now, with the prospect of having to share it with Klaus looming over Caroline's head. Slowly she walked towards it, pulling back the white, feather down duvet and climbing inside, still completely dressed. Under the covers, she kicked off her shoes to the bottom of the bed. Klaus settled himself beside her, looked at her expectantly.

Caroline smiled faux-brightly at him. "Well. Good night. I'd better sleep, like you said." She went to turn away, so that she was lying with her back facing him. Klaus caught her arm.

"_Wait_, love-"

Caroline wrenched her arm away. "You said to share your bed." Caroline pointed out. "Nothing else. _You'll have to be more specific with your dares_, _love_." Despite her mocking bravado, Caroline was shaking as she glared at him, once again engaged in a staring contest with Klaus. They both knew that if Klaus wanted to do anything, he could. She wasn't strong enough to stop him. But was he? He was ruthless, mean, yeah…but was he really going to, like, _rape _her? She wanted to think better of him than that, but after the last day spent with him…

Surprisingly, Klaus let out a short laugh.

"I guess I should heed my own advice. Goodnight, Caroline. Sleep tight." Klaus switched off the light, clouding them in black. Caroline stayed tense, not believing his words. After several excruciating minutes, each one shivering with fear, she let herself relax into the bed. A hand came to rest on her shoulder, making Caroline jumped, but it stayed still where it was. She waited again, wondering what would happen. Nothing. Klaus left his hand where it was, a feather weight on her tensed shoulder.

After what seemed like hours, Caroline finally found herself drifting to sleep. Her mind was abuzz with everything that had happened, everything that could possibly happen tomorrow. She knew it would be her turn in the firing squad, her to drink a girl tomorrow. She _couldn't_. She just couldn't. The thought throbbed persistently in her mind. Unintentionally, she let out a small whimper. She bit her lip immediately, hoping Klaus didn't hear. Imperceptibly, almost too soft for Caroline to pick up on it, Klaus' hand gently squeezed her shoulder, in a motion close to comforting.

Caroline fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	3. Consequences

**Hi everyone!**

**I'm so, so sorry for the huge wait. Honestly, I had actually abandoned this story, but I got sudden inspiration to write, so here you go! R&amp;R, and thank you to all my readers who have waited so patiently!**

* * *

_Take a breath,_  
_Take it deep. _  
_'Calm yourself', He says to me_  
_If you play, you play for keeps. _

_-Rihanna, Russian Roulette_

* * *

Caroline's eyes opened. For a brief moment, she forgot where she was, and had a fleeting peaceful moment, thinking that she was in the comfort of her own bed. Her eyes took in the unfamiliar surroundings, and the reality of where she was came crashing down around her. Caroline looked at the man lying beside her. She had never seen Klaus asleep before. His handsome face, usually marred by anger or cruelty, held instead an expression that resembled….peacefulness. Caroline felt like shoving him off the bed. She didn't exactly think it was fear that _he_, of all people, got to enjoy a good night's sleep. She could just imagine Stefan that had stayed awake all night, terrorising himself over and over about the poor girl he had killed. Rebekah and Damon were probably trying to jimmy every single lock in the house open to try and escape. She had no hope they'd succeed. Klaus was as much thorough as he was cruel. At least Bonnie and Elena had had each other last night. Caroline wished that she had been there with them. She glared at Klaus again, this time for continually separating her from the rest of her friends during this stupid game.

One of his arms was draped across his chest, his fingertips stretched towards where she was lying.

Caroline glanced at the windows on the far wall. The curtains were shut tight, but she could see a thin beam of sunlight peeking out behind them. She glanced back at Klaus. His chest was moving in time to his deepened breaths. He seemed fast asleep. Carefully, Caroline shifted around in the bed, and touched one foot to the floor beside her. She glanced back at Klaus. Still asleep. She let her other foot hit the floor, and eased herself off the mattress with as much vampire stealth as she possessed.

She wanted to look around his room. See the lair of the evil man who was tormenting her and her friends. Irritatingly, despite the obvious grandeur of it, it seemed almost _normal_. Shouldn't there be a human carcass or two strung up on the wall? Newspaper articles pinned to the walls like the serial killer's rooms she had always seen on TV? Instead, the entire room looked like it belonged in a real estate magazine. The entire space was pin neat, apart from the messy desk in the corner.

The smattering of paper upon the desk tugged at her curiosity. Caroline crept towards it, and looked through Klaus' sketches. Boring buildings, places, religious icons, animals, _fruit_ and then…her. Caroline picked up the piece of paper and stared at it. There she was. A close up of her face. Her hair made a halo around her edges of the paper. There was a dark smudge on the side of her mouth, which Caroline guessed was blood. Her lips were pursed in a pout and her eyebrows furrowed slightly, making it look like she was trying to work something complicated out.

Her eyes, though. They were highlighted and shaded and coloured in with more detail than Caroline thought was ever possible for a drawing. She could read every emotion in them, the same emotions that she saw flicker every time she looked in the mirror since turning into a vampire. Happiness, sadness, anger, worry, wariness, confidence, determination, excitement, confusion…if the drawing had been nothing but this pair of eyes, Caroline could still have recognized herself immediately. She didn't even know that her eyes carried that much. Was this was Klaus saw when he looked at her? She didn't know she looked like this, not to other people. She was…beautiful. She never even knew.

"Do you like it, love?" Caroline jumped and whirled around and found herself face to face with Klaus' bare chest. She didn't recall him taking off his shirt last night, but she had fallen asleep before him. She forced herself to meet his eyes. They were almost completely blank, like yesterday, but this time flickered with curiosity, not danger.

"Yeah. I do." She wasn't sure what else to say.

"I considered giving it to you." Klaus took the drawing from her and studied it himself. "I wasn't sure whether two drawings would put me into stalker category, though."

"I think you passed that milestone a while ago." Caroline pointed out. She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She didn't want Klaus to get angry, and restart the game. A new idea sparked her attention. Perhaps…yeah, it was an insane thought but…if she could appeal to his humanity now, when she was on her own with him…she could stop the game in its tracks and get Klaus to release them all.

Luckily, Klaus laughed at her snarky comment.

"When did you draw this?" Caroline asked, genuinely curious but also trying to make friendly conversation.

"This one?" Klaus stared at it. "Hmm. Ah, yes, I drew this the night after my ball. When we-"

"Talked in the park, yeah. I told you I was too smart to be seduced by you."

"Unfortunately for you, those words didn't stop me from trying." Klaus met her gaze. Caroline knew instantly that her plan wasn't going to work. She could see his rage for his brother slowly creep back into his face. Slyness, anger, malicious intent rising as one half of his mouth twitched up.

"No, it didn't." She tried to make her chuckle sound like laughter, and not like crying.

"Bit of a waste of my time, wasn't it? Considering the situation we're in now." Klaus met her gaze. Caroline knew instantly that her plan wasn't going to work. She could see all his rage for his brother's death from yesterday slowly creep back into his face.

"We talked on the bench, and then you threatened me, because you can't control yourself when you get angry." Caroline said, completely abandoning her 'be nice to the psychotic hybrid' attempt. Klaus stiffened, the muscles in his chest knotting together.

"And then you came home and drew this stupid little picture for me." Caroline snapped.

"Watch it, Caroli-"

"That was the first night you ever dared me to do something. What a coincidence, huh?" Caroline's voice dripped with furious sarcasm.

"Also the first night you and your friends killed one of my brothers." Klaus shot back, his own voice just as sarcastic.

"_I _didn't kill either of them!"

"No, you were just the little blonde beautiful bait while your friends did all the dirty work." Klaus sneered.

"Ok, for Finn! _Not_ for Kol! For the record, I didn't even know about it. Probably because I would have vetoed the entire idea."

Klaus laughed bitterly. "Oh really, love? I didn't realise the extent of your fondness for Kol. Maybe it's been the wrong Mikaelson brother trying this entire time."

"Seriously? Get over yourself." Caroline snapped. At the back of her mind, she knew she was putting herself into an even more dangerous situation that she was already in by talking to Klaus like this, but her anger and indignation overrode any caution over what she was saying.

"Don't think that just because I used to have some sort of fondness for you, Caroline, that you can talk to me however you like."

"Well, then don't act like a dumbass." Caroline felt her back hit the wall with a crunch, as all the air in her stomach rushed out of her, leaving her breathless. Klaus had her pinned against the wall by her neck. Caroline wrapped her hands around the one Klaus was using to strangle her, and tried in vain to pull it off.

"Elena's reason behind killing Kol was because she didn't want Jeremy to kill numerous innocent vampires." Caroline said, her voice choked and wheezy. "Yet, killing Kol, meant that entire _bloodline _of innocent vampires died. It was a stupid idea." Klaus stepped back, releasing her. Caroline fell back, rubbing her neck apprehensively.

"You really believe there are innocent vampires, love?" Klaus asked incredulously, his face full of scorn.

A hundred and one sarcastic responses flashed through Caroline's mind, but the wise part of her decided that, even if her original plan wasn't going to work out, playing nice was still the best option.

"I'd like to." Caroline paused. "You said 'this' drawing. Are there more? Of me, I mean."

'Yes." Klaus answered shortly. "Perhaps I'll show you. Later."

"I could be dead later." Caroline reminded him.

Klaus' eyes flashed. "Speaking of," He said. "Time to wake up every one for round two."

* * *

Caroline adjusted herself on her detested permanent position on Klaus' lap. At least he had put his shirt on now.

Her jeans rustled. She didn't really know why, but when Klaus had left the room to wake everyone up, she had hidden the drawing in her pocket. She didn't want Klaus to know, but she liked it. She liked the way that she looked in it. If only a boy who _wasn't_ a psychotic and pointlessly cruel murderer could see her like that.

"It's my turn." She reminded everyone. No one bothered replying. All of her friends were already desolate and slouched over in their seats, their eyes rimmed with bluish-black circles from lack of sleep. No one wanted to play this game. Everyone just wanted to go home. Caroline hoped that her dare would cheer everyone up though, even if it was just a little. She had thought of it before she went to sleep last night, and had kicked herself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Klaus," She began, sounding peppy enough that her everyone stared at her. "I dare you to release however many human blood bags you have stashed away here. Compel them to forget everything, and send them home."

Sure enough, Caroline saw hope, slight as is was, on everyone's face for the first time in 24 hours. Stefan's face was awash with gratefulness. Caroline smiled at him.

"Whatever will we eat then, love? Perhaps you'd like to rethink your dare to one that won't make us all starve." Klaus said. Caroline twisted back to look at him. He l_ooked_ mad, but she thought she could detect a slight hint of respect behind that.

"Nice try. I know where you keep your blood bags." She responded. "Do you refuse my dare?" Klaus stood up so abruptly that Caroline tumbled to the floor.

Moments later, at least _thirty _teenage girls were streamed out the front door, where Klaus had taken position.

'Obviously," He said over their heads. "Humans are free to come and go. Every supernatural creature, however, is still stuck until I put down the block. Don't try anything foolish." Ignoring him, Caroline shuffled on her butt over to where Bonnie, Elena and Stefan were sitting so that she could share her new strategy she was hoping was going to get them to win.

"We're not going to beat him physically." She confided in a whisper. "He's immortal. He'll hurt us far more than we could ever hurt him. We have to get inside his head and hit him where it _really_ hurts."

"How? He has no heart." Elena replied.

"Yes, he does." Damon interrupted their conversation. Caroline looked over at him. He was staring back at her, an odd, slightly mean look over his face. Why? Caroline shook it off as she made her way back over to her regulated place. Damon wasn't stable right now, as per usual. Klaus' hand curled over her arm.

"I'm impressed, love." He said into her ear. "You're learning to play dirty."

"Just levelling the playing field, Klaus." Caroline twisted around to see him again. Klaus smirked and pulled Caroline back into his chest like he had yesterday.

"My turn." He said. The low bravado of his mouth vibrated against Caroline's spine. "Elena, I dare you to stake one of the Salvatore's. Non-fatally, of course. Your choice of who."

Any earlier satisfaction for Caroline 'pulling one over on Klaus' was immediately erased as soon as the words left his mouth They were stupid to be triumphant. They can't compete. He knows every single one of their weaknesses and has no trouble exploiting them for his own pleasure.

Elena looked horrified, frozen in her seat. Damon and Stefan had similar expressions of dread masked by phony nonchalance to try and comfort Elena.

"I can't do that. I don't want to." Elena said.

"Are you refusing my dare?"

"Elena, don't. You can stake me. In my leg, it wouldn't even hurt. Come on, do it." Stefan offered desperately.

"No. _No_. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to _hurt_ you, Stefan. Why are we even bothering putting ourselves through this whole _charade_? Sorry, Caroline. We all tried. But we're going to lose. Stefan, you're down to your last life already! If we're all going to die here, then who cares?" Elena was standing up, tears streaming down her face in full blown hysterics. Caroline was paralysed with shock. Elena was not a quitter. She continued trying in the most hopeless situations. She looked death in the eye and stepped over it. Elena wasn't someone who accepted her fate like this. But now… she had just given up.

"Give her a new dare, Klaus." Caroline begged.

"Sorry, love, we'd be here forever if I did that. You have one strike, little doppelganger. Two to go."

Caroline met Elena's wildly roaming eyes. "Dare me, Elena." She ordered. No. She wasn't going to give up. Caroline was going to destroy Klaus like he had just destroyed her best friend.

'I dare you to get me a drink." Elena muttered under her breath, slumping back in her seat and closing her eyes in an act of defeat. Caroline super-sped to the coffee table, splashing liquid all over Elena as she shoved her drink at her. Her next dare, her next brilliant 'destroy Klaus' idea blurted out of her mouth in a breathless heap.

"Klaus, I dare you to burn every one of your sketches that I decide."

Rebekah gasped silently. She seemed to be the only one in the room, bar Caroline and Klaus himself, who knew how important his art was to him. Klaus' face turned more terrifying then it had in the entire game. His pupils flecked with yellow.

Caroline felt like she was teetering on the edge of a rocky cliff. One step wrong, and she was fall to her doom. She considered the very real possibility that Klaus might give up his entire stupid game and just kill her now and be done with it. Well, so be it. She was sure that if that happened, her friends would be able to argue that Klaus had broken the rules, and get themselves released home. She would gladly die for that.

"Do you refuse?" She asked, her voice taking on the taunting tone so similar to the one Klaus had used the entire time. Yellow hybrid flames danced in his pupils. His mouth pressed so tight she could almost see wrinkles forming in his never-aging skin.

"No." He said, the word nothing more that the hissing of steam through his clenched teeth. Caroline, not waiting for him to change his mind, sped up to his room with a giddy excitement that, in her situation, probably meant this twisted game was turning her literally insane. She swept up the sketches on the table into her arms. Apart from the one in her pocket, these were all of inanimate objects. There were more of her, weren't they? That was what Klaus had said. She wrenched open the desk drawer, and was momentarily frozen in shock.

There they were. So many of them, all so incredibly detailed, all so amazingly stunning. Caroline smiling, Caroline angry, Caroline laughing, Caroline yelling. Here was her in her blue ball gown, her in a pair of jeans, her in dresses, her in clothes that she would honestly _never _dream of wearing. Her stunned moment faded as she found the rest of his drawings

Here was a family portrait of Klaus and Rebekah and Elijah and Kol and Finn the deceased siblings crudely scribbled over. Here was Esther murdered, here was a decapitated Mikael, a weak and whimpering Tyler, then a beautiful one of _her _again amongst all this evil. Her drawings seemed tarnished now. Caroline grabbed them all. She would burn his memories of her. He didn't deserve them.

"Having fun?" Klaus asked quietly behind her. Caroline ignored him, not even bothering to look at him. She kept digging. _Ah_. Here was Caroline looking loving in Klaus' arms, the pair hugging, holding hands, kissing. Caroline took them all.

"You started this." She reminded Klaus, speeding past him and down the stairs. She threw the pile of paper on his seat.

"Who has a lighter?" She asked, snatching the one that Damon offered up. Klaus made his way downstairs and slowly flicked through the drawings. His face was void of emotions. Once, it puckered in sadness. Caroline would have almost felt sorry for him if it wasn't for everything he had just done, and was still doing. She had to hate him. She had to ruin him, so they could win the game and get out of here.

"There's one missing." Klaus looked up and met her eyes, giving her a knowing look. Caroline felt herself squirm slightly. She realised she didn't really want to give her drawing up. Yes, it was created by the monster she hated, but the drawing itself she liked. Wasn't it tarnished now too, that she had seen all his other horrible drawings? No. This one was special. It was a drawing of all that Caroline was, and what she wanted to be.

"Yeah." She said finally, refusing to elaborate. Klaus held her gaze, his eyes probing into hers. Caroline stared back.

"You know what, love? I refuse the dare." Klaus put the pile of sketches back on the coffee table. On top of it, in clear view to everyone, was a drawing of Caroline laughing, her head thrown back, her eyes shining. Caroline tore her eyes from it. She should feel more triumphant right now, but all she was feeling was slight guilt for ever trying to burnt these drawings in the first place. They weren't ruined like she had though. No, they were still innocent, even if Klaus wasn't. She wanted to return them back to where she had found them.

Idly, Caroline could feel everyone's excitement behind her, bubbling over as they fought to remain nonchalant. They thought they were finally winning. Maybe they were. But maybe not. Caroline picked up the top drawing and studied it. She wished she could leave this entire situation, and be as happy as she was in this picture.

"You can keep it." Klaus offered. Caroline glanced at him. His eyes were trained directly on her, seemingly ignoring everyone else in the room. A smile played on his lips. His earlier anger from having to burn all his precious drawings was gone, now that they were safe. He was back in his predator mode, stalking his prey as he played his game. Caroline was _so _over this.

"What do you expect the outcome of this game to be?" She asked, her voice barely a whisper. Do you really want to kill us all, or are you just trying to remind us not to cross you?" Her voice had a pleading, desperate twinge hanging on it. Klaus finally broke his steadfast gaze and looked around the room, at everyone else. His expression was hard.

"I'll guess we'll find out right now, love. Stefan, I dare you to bite Bonnie."

"_Klaus_, _please_." She pleaded again.

Klaus' eyes idly flicked to her. "Get back here." He ordered. Feeling like a disgusting piece of meat, Caroline slunk back over to him and sat on the edge of his knee, not wanting to touch him. She twisted her head over her shoulder.

"Don't do this." She begged.

"He doesn't have to kill her. Just a bite."

"You know he won't be able to stop." Rebekah said angrily. Elena and she had made a protective wall in front of Bonnie. Caroline ached to join them and protect her best friend, but she knew she would just be called back again like Klaus' little dog.

"I refuse." Stefan's words rang out clear, silencing the room. Caroline twisted back to face him.

"You can't, Stefan."

"Stefan, no." Elena echoed.

"Stefan, don't. I trust you. You can do this." Bonnie said, putting on her bravest face. Stefan's replying smile was grim.

"Unfortunately, I don't trust myself. I refuse your dare, Klaus. Strike three." Stefan stood up and squared his shoulders.

Klaus was up before Caroline knew what he was doing.

"NO!" She screamed, wrapping herself around his arm, trying to drag her feet on the carpet to slow him down. Klaus strode forward, Caroline still hanging off his arm like a demented ragdoll and bit into Stefan's neck.

"STEFAN!" Caroline wasn't sure who screamed his name. She thought she might have, but it didn't sound like her voice. She fell at Stefan's lap, pushing at the wound with her hand as if trying to reverse it. Elena, Rebekah and Bonnie clambered over her to do the same. Klaus grabbed the back of Caroline's collar and dragged her back to his seat with him. Caroline was trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. This game had gone in the worst possible direction. Her earlier desire, to leave, was now overruled for Klaus to heal Stefan, her best friend.

"Your turn, Stefan." Klaus' voice was icy. Entirely void of emotion for what he had just done. Caroline hated him.

"Dare me, brother." Damon said. He hadn't reacted or moved the entire time Stefan had refused the dare or Klaus had bit him. Even now, he didn't as much as look at Stefan. His eyes were trained stoically on Klaus and the shivering pathetic little blonde girl on his lap.

Stefan glanced at him. "I dare you to make a dare." He said.

Damon stood up and cracked his neck like he was preparing for a fight. "I want to make you a wager, Klaus." He offered. His words were so net that it was clear he had been planning this for ages. Caroline wasn't sure how long. "If you refuse my next dare, then we win, you heal my brother and we all go home. If you can do it, we all lose. Automatically." Immediately, the air was rife with protests.

Klaus cocked his head. "This is my game, not yours, Damon."

"Don't you think it's getting a bit boring, though? Wouldn't you rather move on to something new?"

"On the contrary, I find it highly amusing. However…I'm intrigued as to what you think could possibly stump me with. I'd expect something like this from my darling sister or Caroline." Klaus scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I accept your wager."

"Damon," Rebekah looked furious. "Whatever amazing little idea you have brewing in your head I assure you that it's _wrong. We will not win._ You know _nothing _about my brother. Don't doom us _all_ just because you want to show off."

"No, he's right." Elena spoke up, taking Damon's side for the first time since he had drained the first human. "Even aside from this stupid wager, we're all going to die anyway. Like I said. What's the point in dragging this out? Let's just roll the dice."

"I agree with Elena." Bonnie said. Her voice was resigned. "I'd rather die on my own terms then his."

Klaus nudged Caroline. "What about you, love?" He asked. Caroline stared at Stefan, at the weeping, unhealing wound on his neck. Maybe Elena was right. They were all doomed. There was no hope.

She, Caroline Forbes, had given up.

"What have we got to lose? Nothing." She whispered. She could feel Klaus grinning behind her. Damon straightened.

"Fine. This is it then. All or nothing, Klaus." He paused. "I dare you to kill Caroline Forbes."


	4. Dying wishes

**A/N: Wow! I am honestly so blown away with the amount of feedback I received for the latest chapter. I've never had so much, and it made me want to get this to you guys as soon as possible...despite the fact that this chapter is probably going to end up with you all hating me. Oops.**

* * *

_If I had done something a little bit differently_  
_We would've moved in a better direction than this, baby_

_If you were human_  
_If you were who I assumed you were_  
_You wouldn't have done this_

_-$ting, The Neighbourhood_

* * *

Caroline knew what Damon was going to say before the words had even left his mouth. Deep down, Caroline knew it was going to come to this point as soon as Klaus had introduced the rules of the game.

And that was exactly why this plan wasn't going to work. Because everybody already knew. How many times had Caroline been used as bait for Klaus, after all? Klaus had probably considered this dare when he was thinking up this entire thing, and had already made the hard decision to kill her.

Caroline took a deep breath and prepared to die.

Klaus' sharp intake of breath behind her caused her to start. She looked over her shoulder at him. His face had paled, his expression a mixture of surprise and anger. What? Surely, he must have considered this option. Was this seriously a surprise for him? He'd already been in a situation where he hadn't been able to finish Caroline off. _Everyone_ knew about that. Did Klaus really think no one would try and use that against him? Did he really not consider it?

Had they just finally, for real this time, pulled one over the big, bad hybrid? Klaus moved his horrified gaze from Damon to Caroline. She was still sitting on his lap.

"I think I'm going to sit with my friends while you make this decision." She said, standing up and making her way over to the couch where Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were all seated. For the first time in the game, Klaus didn't call her back to him. He just followed Caroline with his eyes, as she hugged all her friends in turn and sat between Elena and Bonnie, her hand stretched behind Elena and resting on Stefan's shoulder. Caroline met his gaze.

Everyone was watching Klaus. Everyone was holding their breath. No one knew what was going to happen. Klaus was like an imploding bomb, wired and ready to explode. One uttered word, one sudden movement, could set him off and seen him careening over the deep end and cost them all their lives.

As everyone watched, Klaus managed to wipe the shocked look off his face and compose himself. He stood up, and slowly began pacing behind his chair.

"Well, I can't say I was expecting that." He muttered to himself.

"Really?' Caroline couldn't help herself. She clapped a hand over her mouth. Klaus turned to face her.

"What do you mean, love?" He raised an eyebrow.

Caroline hesitated. "I mean…you targeted Tyler to hurt me, Elena to hurt Stefan and Damon. Did you really not consider anyone targeting me to hurt you?"

Klaus laughed bitterly, regaining the cruel mask he had worn this entire game. "I didn't realise anyone would be so trivial. It's not like we're _dating_, love." He said the word scornfully, his mean eyes boring into her. "I didn't realise they would be so stupid to think that attacking you would hurt me at all."

Caroline's tentativeness turned to irritation. She was sick of Klaus being such a spineless bully.

"Then why am I not dead yet?" The words hung in the air, a challenge. If Klaus was going to kill her, then he was at least going to be honest about it, Caroline decided. She wasn't going to let him act out this public façade of heartlessness and cruelty, not to her. She knew the truth about how he felt about her, or at least an inkling that was more than what he was showing here. He didn't get to take the easy way out on this dare, and pretend that he never liked her.

"That's a good question." Klaus crossed the room in two steps, grabbing Caroline by the neck for the second time that day and holding her up in the air as if she weighed nothing at all. This time, despite the pain, Caroline didn't give him the satisfaction of struggling. She could feel her friend's worried eyes on her. She knew that they were unsure of what to do, whether or not to try and fight Klaus and risk enraging him more, or to just trust that Caroline knew what she was doing. Caroline glanced at Stefan, trying to communicate wordlessly to leave it to her. She turned back to Klaus.

"Are you really going to kill me by ripping off my head?" Caroline choked out. Underneath her layer of calm, she was bubbling with manic, hysterical panic. She _really _didn't want to die. But if he was going to kill her, he wasn't going to kill a crazy, screaming stupid teenage vampire. He was going to kill the Caroline that he had drawn in his picture: strong, confident, and composed, even when facing death.

Klaus dropped her, Caroline falling back onto the couch with a soft thud.

"Are you ready to die?" He whispered menacingly, crouching down so that his face was level with his. Caroline stared back at him. His mouth may have been set in a terrifying scowl, but she could still see the battling emotions deep within his eyes.

"No." She replied. Despite her promise to herself to keep calm and poised, she felt a single tear roll slowly down her cheek.

"Are you scared?"

"Yes. And I don't want my friends to die." Caroline took a deep breath.

Klaus seemed to suddenly remember the others in the room. He jumped backwards and pointed a finger at Damon.

"If you die, Caroline, this sad excuse of a friend should be the one you blame. Using you as a piece of pretty little bait again, dangling you directly in the face of danger."

"How could I blame him if he's going to die anyway?" Caroline pointed out.

"I could forget about Damon's stupid new rule. Kill you, and then keep playing." Klaus raked a hand through his head.

"You can't do that."

Klaus laughed, a manic, loud noise that seemed to rattle all the glasses in the room. "Are _you _telling me what I can and cannot do, little vampire?"

"Are you a liar as well as weak?" Caroline asked furiously. The chair Klaus and her had been previously sitting on went sailing through the air and crashed against the wall, splintering into pieces. Klaus, wired and shaking with rage, glared at Caroline with venom.

"_Don't _talk to me like that!" He hissed.

"Make a decision, Klaus." That was Damon. He looked as unbothered by the entire situation as if he was simply watching it on a television set. Klaus grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt.

"Don't test me. I'm angry, Damon. Pressure me into action and I'll rip her pretty little neck open. Then _you _all die, too."

Damon continued to look bored. "At least we wouldn't have to see you act out all your teenage love angst first." He said sarcastically. Klaus threw Damon against the wall like he just had the chair. They heard a bone crack as Damon hit the floor and landed on his tailbone. Still with a face void of any emotion or reaction, Damon stayed where he was, slumped against the bottom of the wall.

"_You_!" Klaus whirled, stabbing Caroline with his vicious gaze. "_Upstairs._"

"Caroline, no, you don't have to." Bonnie said immediately, protectively wrapping her hands around Caroline's arm and squeezing as if trying to shield her. "It's not your dare. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Caroline couldn't take her eyes off Klaus. He looked like he was capable of nothing but destruction and terror right now. His face was picture of rage, his eyes lightening to yellow, his fists clenched so hard they were white. He would never be anything but the Original hybrid here, surrounded by everyone whom he wanted to fear him.

Maybe…she could appeal to the side of him that still cared for her. But she would only be able to do that if they were alone.

"It's ok." She told Bonnie. "I'm ok. I want to." She hugged all of her friends again, even Rebekah. This could possibly be the last time she ever saw them again, if Caroline wasn't able to persuade Klaus to let her live. She was scared for herself to die, yes, but she was even more scared that her dying would doom all the people that she loved. She didn't bother glancing in Damon's direction as she made her way upstairs and into Klaus' room. The door slammed shut behind her. Caroline turned slowly. Klaus was panting, leaning against the closed door, his eyes partially closed. He was raging a battle inside himself, whether or not to kill Caroline. It was up to her to help the right side win.

Slowly, Caroline inched forward and lay a gentle hand on his arm. Klaus' eyes flickered open.

"I have to kill you." He said. His voice was edged with gristle and sandpaper, rubbing Caroline raw.

Caroline remembered a titbit of information her mother had once told her. _Caroline, if you are ever kidnapped or taken, try to talk to your captor. If he gets to know you, and recognizes you as a human being or a friend, it will be harder for him to hurt you._

"I have such an amazing future ahead of me." Caroline began, ignoring what he had just said. "I'm planning on going to Whitmore College. I used to have dreams of Harvard, actually, but I can always do that in the future. I live forever, right? I want to go to Whitmore so that I can stay close to my mum. I don't mind spending the next fifty or so years rooted to Mystic Falls. I know you think that's boring, but I'm a _vampire_. I can live forever. I'm going to miss my mum so much when she eventually dies, so I really do want to spend as much time with her as I can before that. We didn't always get along, not while I was human, but now that I'm a vampire I think that she-"

"Caroline, I have to kill you."

"Elena and Bonnie are planning on Whitmore, too. I'm so excited to go to college with them. We're going to share a dorm room. I might have to sleep outside a couple of nights, though. You should _hear _Bonnie's snoring. I know its months away, but I've already began planning what classes I should take. I don't actually have to make as big of a decision for this then I would if I was still human, obviously-"

"_Caroline_!" Klaus hands shot up to cup her face. He adjusted her face so that she was looking back at him. "Stop talking. I have to kill you."

Caroline fell silent, biting her lip. "Please don't."

"If I don't, no one will…"

"Respect you? _Seriously?_" Caroline squirmed out of his grasp. "_Everyone _will respect you. It takes a _lot_ to take the high road. Not everyone can do it, Klaus, but I believe that you can. I really do. Do you know just how much respect I'll have for you if you stop this entire thing right now? Let us walk away. Please. _Please_."

"I _can't _do that, Caroline."

"Well, then just kill _me_, then. Prove your point. Show you're not afraid of killing us. Then let everyone go."

"Now, why would I do that?" Klaus asked. "Out of all the betraying parasites here, you're my favourite."

Caroline ignored the jab. "Because it's my dying wish." She sat down on Klaus' bed and tipped her head back to look at the ceiling.

Caroline felt a sudden strange sensation in her chest. A hot and cold feeling. She could feel the beating of her heart all the way up in her eyes. She was sure she was in pain, too, but she didn't feel anything. She turned her gaze down. Klaus was standing in front of her, his hand in her chest. He was holding her heart in his fist. Her life in his hands.

Caroline felt herself begin to cry. She didn't want to, but she wasn't exactly going to beat herself up over it when she was seconds away from dying. Slowly, she reached her hand up and brushed Klaus' jaw with the tips of her fingers.

"I wish I'd never met you." She whispered. Klaus stared at her. His eyes were liquid pools of sadness. The hand around her heat tightened. With her other hand, she grabbed the drawing from her pocket and pressed into the Klaus free palm. Caroline's eyes closed as she braced herself to die.

Then suddenly, it was gone. Was she dead? Caroline opened her eyes and stared down at her chest. Klaus' hand was gone. Blood was soaking through her top, but she could still feel her heart beating. She looked up. Klaus had left.

On his desk was her drawing, smoothed flat. Caroline picked it up and put it back in her pocket, where it belonged. She was alive. They had won. They could go home. There had been so many moments during this entire terrifying ordeal that Caroline had been sure there was no humanity left in Klaus. But… maybe she wrong. As hidden as it was by hate and torment, maybe there was still a chance for Klaus. It would take her ages to get over this, though, if she ever did. She wouldn't be able to forget what he had put her and her friends through. But at least she would remember him showing mercy on them at the end, when it truly counted.

A bloodcurdling scream interrupted Caroline's thoughts. The scream was familiar to her. _Elena_. In less than a second, Caroline flew out of Klaus' bedroom and down the stairs and echoed Elena's scream with one of her own. She sank to her knees at the bottom of the staircase, as Klaus ripped out Bonnie's heart. There was a bloodbath in front of her. All of her friends were thrown around the room, their disembodied hearts lying next to them in a pool of blood. Their faces were an identical mask of surprise and horror. Even Rebekah had been pinned up against the wall, desiccated, with a white ash dagger. Klaus dropped Bonnie, her lifeless body hitting the ground with a thump. Caroline screamed again.

"_NO!_" Her mind couldn't even comprehend the volume of the atrocity in front of her. How could she go from having everyone to losing everyone she loved in less than two seconds? Racking with sobs and convulsing with shakes, Caroline crawled forward to Bonnie's body. Poor mortal Bonnie. She never had a chance. Next to her lay Elena, her best friend's chest gaping wide open and stained with red. Next to her, Stefan, his neck wound so gory that his head was barely still connected to his body. Caroline didn't know what to do. She couldn't process it. How could everyone be _dead_? _How? _She felt herself gag bile and turned to throw up away from her friends, her entire insides heaving onto the carpet already stained red from blood.

"Why?" She sobbed, turning back around and collapsing onto Bonnie's chest, her hands stretched out to hold Elena and Stefan's greying hands. She felt sticky blood clot in her hair and on the side of her cheek, but she didn't care.

"Damon tried to beat me at my own game. I killed him first." Caroline swivelled her eyes and saw Damon, still slumped against the wall, a chair leg sticking out from where chest. Her eyes fluttered shut.

"You went back on your word." Her voice was nothing but a thin shadow. "You cheated."

"How can I cheat at a game I made up, love?"

Caroline felt her entire body wrench itself up. She was trembling with rage. She couldn't even control it. She didn't know what was happening. She felt like her entire flesh was searing with the steaming anger brewing inside the pit of her stomach. She couldn't breathe. Despite her tears and welling sadness, a dullness set over her and made her feel like she was watching the entire situation from a third party's view point. She felt emotional and emotionless at the same time. She was scaring herself.

Klaus was seated on the couch they had previously been sharing, sitting idly with a bottle of bourbon in his hand. It was probably the worst idea in the entire world to fight a man who had just slaughtered four vampires and a witch, but Caroline was so far past caring. What did she have left to live for anyway, now that all he friends were dead? She felt herself flying over to him, grabbing the bourbon bottle and smashing the glass against the side of his skull. The bottle splintered and shattered, the glimmering shards of glass showering them in sharp confetti. Idly, she noticed that Klaus' hand had wrapped around her throat again, and that her head was against the floor. She didn't' care.

"_Don't _call me that." She hissed, the venom in her voice so palpable that she could see it snap off her tongue. "You are a _weak_¸_ dishonest _pathetic excuse for a man. No wonder that _no one_, not even your own family, loved you."

Caroline felt herself fly across the room and land against the solid oak front door, her back cracking. She still didn't care. She didn't feel pain. She felt completely disconnected with her body and anything that happened to it. She still couldn't believe it. Everyone…dead. How could Klaus do this to her?

"I should kill you." Klaus laughed bleakly as he walked over to where she had landed and crouched in front of her. "You truly are my only weakness, Caroline Forbes." Suddenly, he punched the wall, his fist landing a mere centimetre away from Caroline's face. "You'll never even look at me again, will you? I've just murdered all your friends. You'll never forgive me."

Caroline didn't bother even looking at him. She didn't care about anything he had to say. When would she wake up from this nightmare, and see her friends alive again?

"So really, there was no point in sparing you. I did it because I love you, Caroline, and I want to be with you. But you'd never even _think _about being with me after this." Klaus reached out again, skimming Caroline's collarbone with his thumb. Caroline couldn't even work up enough emotion to feel repulsed by this monster touching her. "I should have just killed you." He said softly.

Caroline was sure her heart couldn't possibly be more pulverised than it was right now then if Klaus had actually ripped it out from her chest and crushed it in his fist.

* * *

**A/N: Ooooookay! Sorry for that, all. Anyway, to add even more fuel to the fire, that is also the last chapter in this fic. I'm really sorry guys, but I never intended this to be a very long story. **

**HOWEVER, there will be an epilogue, and that epilogue will lend into the multi-chapter fic that will be a spin-off/carry-on from this one.**


	5. A new game to play

Caroline brought the coffee machine to life and fixed herself her 'vampire version' of an Irish coffee – two shots of espresso spiked with A negative.

"Hey babe," Eric, her fiancé, swept inside and collapsed on the dining room table, his eyes bloodshot. Caroline glared at him. It was 9 am. She had been engaged to Eric for two years now, and hated him a little more every day. She hadn't really liked him to begin with. But she didn't like to be with people she liked anyway. It hurt too much if they got hurt. From now on, Caroline only hung out with people containing two important traits: vampirism and unlikableness. It had been thirty five years since the worst day of her life, and she still thought about it everyday.

"You're home late. Or early in the morning, should I say? Drunk." Caroline slapped her hand down on the table next to him. Eric groaned.

"So loud…" He muttered. Eric was an alcoholic as a human, and an even bigger alcoholic as a vampire. He frequented a bar popular for all grotty vampires, where they lured in innocent humans, drunk themselves silly and occasionally killed each other. If Caroline liked Eric at all, she would worry about him whenever he left for the bar. Luckily she didn't.

Caroline didn't really care about anyone anymore. In some ways, it was like she had switched off her humanity. She had considered going all the way and flipping the switch, but the fear of losing the memories of her friends had stopped her. Her grief and mourning was the only thing that kept them living on in her head. So Caroline just dulled her other emotions the best she could, with mindless tasks and false relationships and the occasional drunken bender.

"You have mail…from that hybrid guy." Eric propped himself up on one elbow. Caroline felt herself freeze. Her freshly made coffee slid from her graps and crashed against the kitchen tiles, splashing hot coffee onto her barely legs. She barely noticed.

"Klaus, right?" Eric picked up a thick cream envelope, staring at Caroline. He didn't know her history with the oldest vampire in the world, but the little he knew made him a whole lot of a hell interested. The one time he had ever mentioned his name had been about five months ago. He was trying to tell Caroline some wicked cool story about some loser little human trying to sass Klaus, and Klaus making him chow down on his entire glass beer bottle. There had been blood _everywhere_, apparently. Eric was laughing pretty hard when he was telling it, but he had stopped when Caroline had flipped out and sent their coffee table flying to the wall on the other side of the room.

"Don't _ever_ mention that name to me again." She had hissed, her vamp face curling into a scowl, and then she had left and didn't come back for about two weeks. Well, he was her fiancé, wasn't he? Didn't he deserve to know what was going on?

"So what's the deal with you and him, hmm?" He asked, waving the envelope tauntingly.

"Give me that, Eric." Caroline snapped, sinking into the dining table chair opposite him.

"Uh uh," Eric held it further away.

"_Give _it to me, asshole." Caroline snatched it away. Her hands shook as she tore it open. Why was Klaus sending her mail? He had spoken to her since the worst day of her life. She had moved from Mystic Falls the day after, and hadn't returned since. He had _no _right to contact her.

A folded up piece of paper tumbled out of the envelope and onto the table. Eric grabbed it before she could.

He whistled as he unfolded it. "_Shit_, baby, I didn't realise he had been sweet on you." Caroline grabbed the piece of paper. It was the drawing of her that had been on the top of the pile of Klaus' drawings, the one of her laughing. Even now, after everything, she couldn't deny the detail or beauty of it. Caroline remembered the moment when Klaus spared her life, and she had thought for a second there was still a chance for his humanity….she had been wrong. She crumpled the picture in his fist, her knuckles white.

"So, you two were a thing? That's pretty hot, babe, to tell you the truth. Who's bigger, him or me?" Eric swore as he found Caroline's teaspoon buried in the flesh of his upper arm.

"Shut up, you stupid drunk." Caroline growled.

"Eh, well, fuck you, too." Eric stood up, glowering. "You all angry because Klausykins dumped you? If you were as big of a bitch to him as you are to me, it's no wonder." He made his way to the front door, on route to get drunk again. "Klaus was probably feeling stupidly sentimental and wanted to say goodbye. Don't know why he bothered with you." He slammed the front door behind him. Caroline whooshed after him, flinging it back open.

"What do you mean 'goodbye'?" She asked. Eric turned to her.

"Haven't you heard? It's all anyone can talk about in the bar."

"I don't go to the bar." Caroline said impatiently. "Get back inside."

"No thanks, honey." Eric said sarcastically, turning back around to walk away.

"Eric!" Caroline called pleadingly. "_Please _come inside…and to answer your question, you are, in case you were still wondering." She cringed, repulsed, by having to answer his disgusting question. It's not like she even _knew _about Klaus anyway. Eric bounded back inside, beaming and puffing out his chest. He was such a typical masochistic insecure male. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, by heaps." She lied again. "Now, tell me what everybody's been saying."

"Well, apparently, Klaus was been living it up in Europe. There's been massacre after massacre. Haven't you watched the news lately?" Caroline suddenly remembered all the news stories about the mysterious serial killers, the explosions and fires at crowded restaurants and movie theatres, the strange animal attacks. She should have been smarter to be able to piece together the typical vampire cover stories, but she guessed that she just didn't really care about stuff like that anymore.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, _apparently_, one little sassy powerful witch in England got her panties twisted and created a weapon that could kill him. Even though, y'know, he's like immortal and stuff."

"Is it legitimate?" It hit Caroline like a revelation. She would never be able to get over the man who murdered her best friends…until she returned the favour. She had never believed in tit for tat. She was always the one who dutifully quoted "two wrongs don't make a right". But that had been before she had been ripped apart and torn into an empty shell of a person. She lived with someone who she despised and called him 'hubby-to-be'. She didn't even know how to talk to people like a regular person anymore. She hadn't so much as smiled since the worst day of her life.

She found herself almost smiling now. Not quite, but more than she had in thirty five years. She couldn't move past her friend's death, because she knew that their killer was still living large, killing more and more people everyday.

She had to kill Klaus.

The moment the thought entered her mind, she knew that she wouldn't be able to shake it off until she had done it. She had to kill Klaus. She had to get vengeance, and justice, for everyone that she had loved.

Eric's words sent her tumbling back to the bleak pit of reality. "Dunno. Klaus killed her, obviously."

Caroline felt her new life purpose crumble away. "Oh my God." She groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"…But she had hidden it away already."

Hope shot through Caroline like a lightning strike. Her head snapped up. "What? Really? So, who knows where it is?"

Eric laughed. "Baby, don't you think that's what you lover boy's trying to find out right now?" His teeth were yellow, and his breath stank of beer. God, Caroline couldn't _stand _him. Swiftly, she reached over and snapped his neck.

"Sorry, _baby_." She murmured sarcastically, getting up and making her way to the front door. "But I'm calling off the wedding. I have a new game for Klaus and I to play."


	6. A Love to Kill

**A/N: Just letting you all know that I've posted up the first chapter of the follow up fic of this, A Love to Kill. I hope you all enjoy!**


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